


The Spark of an Adventure

by Evitcani



Series: Living and Dying Beneath the Veil [2]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Canon-Compliant, Episode 49 Spoilers, Fluff, M/M, The Late Night Discussion Mentioned in Episode 50
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-21
Updated: 2017-04-21
Packaged: 2018-10-21 23:49:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10685418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evitcani/pseuds/Evitcani
Summary: Kravitz confronts Taako about the events of The Eleventh Hour arc.This is the discussion that took place on that night beyond a simple recap. The date wasn't the beginning; it was a natural continuation of what was already there.No series context needed fromLiving and Dying Beneath the Veil.





	The Spark of an Adventure

**Author's Note:**

  * For [epersonae](https://archiveofourown.org/users/epersonae/gifts).



> This takes place at the end of Episode 49 during the late-night discussion. It was prompted by the lovely epersonae on Tumblr after I mentioned possibly wanting to write this scene out haha.

The ravens would hardly give The Grim Reaper a moment of peace. The bounties had come bundled in a mess that sat on his desk. Hundreds, thousands of deaths for a handful of people. Yet, none of them had ever arrived. One name stood out to him, written in elegant Elvish, ‘ _Taako Taaco of New Elfington_ ’. 

Kravitz sighed and tore through the curtain into the Bureau. A man with a violin stared at him in shock. “Tell me where Taako Taaco dwells,” the hunter rumbled. The half-elf shakily pointed back towards a directory of names. Kravitz turned and searched down the messy residential listing, finally finding where all three of what he assumed to be the main culprits lived. 

He was furious. He had _warned_ them about what would happen. It wasn’t often he made deals, but they’d done him a good turn. This felt like they’d spat in his face. He slammed the door open, holding his scythe up in an attack position. 

No one was home. 

The reaper lowered the scythe and shut the door behind himself. Death was quite patient, so he sat down to wait. After a while, it became uncomfortable to hold his scythe, so he shoved it into the shadows. It was clear something had gone horribly wrong in this town for all these deaths to suddenly be rushed over by the ravens in span of a few seconds. Kravitz summoned the paperwork to his side and sorted through it. All of the town’s citizens had died exactly the amount of times, but the three men were outliers. They’d died quite a few times, but not nearly as many as the town folks. 

This was a curious situation. Kravitz’s anger was fading quickly as he realized it was not quite as easy as it all had seemed. He pulled together his material form and adjusted his tie. A more diplomatic approach would be appropriate. Considering their names hadn’t ended up in his book of bounties, it seemed that The Raven Queen was going to entrust this to Kravitz to figure out. 

He sent everything back to the astral plane as the door opened. Taako looked exhausted and didn’t even notice Kravitz. He took off his cloak, muttering to it and hanging it up. He turned around and stared at Kravitz in surprise. 

Kravitz rose from the couch. “Well, we need to talk, don’t we? ‘Cause you boys, you’ve added quite a bit to your death count, haven’t you?”

Taako laughed nervously and thumbed at himself. “That one’s on me,” he said casually. 

The reaper glared and Taako’s bravado seemed to wilt. “I’m not here to kill you, yet. I need you to explain what happened,” Kravitz sighed. He sat back down and Taako took a seat almost uncomfortably close to him. He scooted a little closer to the armrest. Taako stretched out in the remaining space.

“I dunno, my man, what _didn’t_ happen is a lot better question,” he mumbled. He yawned, covering his mouth. Then, he grimaced down at the shabby coffee table. “Can we do this some other time, handsome? I mean it’s nice to come back from a rough day to a pretty face and all, my man, but I’d rather dream ‘bout using my mouth on you for things other than telling you about work. Yanno?”

The frankness of Taako’s statement made Kravitz’s cheeks burn. “Ah,” he licked his lips. “I see.” He shoved away a traitorous thought about how much he would also prefer seeing what else Taako could do with his mouth. 

Taako stretched, laying across the couch and settled his head in Kravitz’s lap. Kravitz held up his hands, not sure what was happening. Another thought crossed his mind that Taako planned to pay him off like this. His cheeks burned impossibly warmer and his form flickered. “You don’t mind, do you?” Kravitz glanced down at Taako, who was smirking up at him. He carefully put his hands down to avoid touching the elf when he realized Taako knew _exactly_ what he was doing. “I’m pretty _and_ tired, homie,” Taako continued. “And you’re in my way for the full Taako relaxation pose. Unless you want to continue this in my bedroom?” He leered up at Kravitz who shook his head mutely. 

Kravitz licked his lips again, looking away. “You come on quite strong, don’t you?” 

He heard and felt the laugh. “You are making this way too easy, handsome.” There was a pause. “If I wasn’t so tired, I’d jump your bones in a second, my man, and don’t you doubt that.” Kravitz’s cheeks were back to burning.

Maybe Taako was teasing him so he’d be put off enough to leave like he had before. “I’m not here to be your enemy, Taako. I want to get to the bottom of things before I make any rash decisions,” he sighed. 

There was a few beats of silence where Taako seemed to consider it. “Look, my dude, you made Merle lose an arm and tried to kill us. Not easy to live and let lie, yanno? I’ve got a deal for you - and I know how much you like those - to prove you’re not gonna chop off my head or whatever.” Kravitz looked down. 

“Well,” he started softly, “What do you propose?”

Taako smirked at Kravitz in a way that made him thinking he had already lost. “No questions asked. You give me some time. Then, I’ll tell you what happened.”

“If you really need some time, I can wait,” Kravitz murmured. “You don’t have to make a deal for that.” He looked up and away. 

He felt the elf roll his head as he turned on the couch. “Good. I’m going to take a nap,” Taako said simply. “If you get bored, you can braid my hair or something, handsome.” Kravitz blinked down, but Taako had already closed his eyes. He felt like that hadn’t been so much of a request as a quiet plea. After a moment of hesitation, he reached down and started putting small braids in Taako’s hair. Taako murmured in appreciation until they evened out into soft snores.

Kravitz stopped braiding his hair, afraid it’d wake him. The reaper wasn’t sure how long passed until Taako made a whimpering noise and mumbled something in his sleep. Kravitz had thought it would be creepy to watch the other man while he slept, so he’d been quietly reading a book he’d made a shadow get him. He closed the book and set it aside carefully, then touched Taako’s shoulder gently, wondering if he should shake the elf awake. Taako turned at his touch and curled against Kravitz’s stomach, hugging him around the middle. 

He scratched the side of his nose and shifted so it would be less of an uncomfortable position for Taako. The more he moved the more the elf wiggled around until Kravitz was laying on the couch, with one leg propped up on the other armrest and the other still on the floor, with Taako laying on his chest and between his legs, but at least he seemed comfortable. Kravitz picked up the book and went back to reading, albeit at an uncomfortable angle. He hesitated, then he started carding one hand through Taako’s hair, wondering if that'd keep away whatever nightmare had disturbed the elf in the first place.

Eventually, Taako stirred. Kravitz prepared to tell the other man why they were cuddled together, but Taako didn’t seem surprised. “If you’re uncomfortable, handsome, I can move,” he mumbled sleepily. Kravitz didn’t want to admit it was sort of nice, so he tried to shrug casually. “Thanks for not being weirded out, homie. Sorta needed that,” Taako sighed. 

“You looked tired,” Kravitz replied quietly. He wouldn’t begrudge the elf of a nap. Kravitz always had later; an eternity of later. 

Taako laughed and scooted a little farther up Kravitz’s body. He let out a content sigh, adjusting so he was looking up at Kravitz, arms folded over the reaper’s chest and chin on his forearms. “Right, so, Refuge.”

Then, he told the sad, strange tale of the town that died on the hour. Kravitz listened patiently, realizing it fit well with what he had seen from the death count.. He would need some time to digest the information. The thing that struck him the most was how casually the elf described their seemingly horrific deaths. “You were fine with all that? Dying over and over again?”

Taako looked aside, not meeting Kravitz’s eyes. “I didn’t care about myself. Of course it hurt, but -,” he stopped, brow creasing. “Watching everyone else die and knowing if I’d been a little more clever or less impulsive or _something_ else, it wouldn’t have happened. I told you. It’s on me.” 

Kravitz was surprised by the honesty. He hesitated, then reached forward and started weaving braids into Taako’s hair again. Taako leaned into his touch. “I’m not sure why you’d want to be something else. Seems to me that _you_ being there was exactly what that town needed. Even if it took a few tries.” He hoped he sounded comforting.

The elf snorted in response. “You read too many fortune cookies, homie.” Kravitz frowned at the ceiling. Taako squirmed farther up. Kravitz let his hands slip naturally from Taako’s hair to the elf’s neck. Taako propped himself up on his forearm next to Kravitz’s head. He reached down and patted him on the cheek with free arm. “Good try, though, bones. I’m quite aware that I’m just Taako, yeah? Don’t take it to heart, handsome.” 

The reaper looked up at Taako’s fake smile and it upset him in a way that he didn’t understand. Like he was familiar with what it felt like to wear that mask. “ _Just_ Taako,” he murmured. “Well, if you could do all that as _just_ Taako, I think I’ll have to be very careful. _Just_ Taako saved an entire town, resisted the thrall of an evil artifact, and still remembered to go back for a bartender it would have been so much easier to forget. Now, _just_ Taako is sitting here telling the Grim Reaper he’d rather sacrifice himself than a town of people he barely knows. Competent, resilient, selfless -,” he stopped and looked up at Taako with mock fear. Taako’s lips were parted in surprise. “- and that’s _just_ Taako.” 

For a moment, Kravitz was worried Taako was going to cry, then the elf shook himself from his stupor and turned his head in embarrassment. “Layin’ it on kinda thick, handsome,” he mumbled. Then, he turned back to Kravitz. “So, we’re good, then?”

Taako’s eyes shone with determination; determination and something else that went straight to Kravitz’s head like a good wine. This man was _alive_ beyond the seemingly too-fast beating of his heart. Kravitz realized how close their faces were. Taako’s eyes dropped to Kravitz’s lips, then flicked back up to his eyes. He was hyper-aware of the breath ghosting across his lips. A kiss would be so natural. As soon as that thought passed through his head, Kravitz looked away, lifting his hands awkwardly. “It’s quite the story. I need some time to think things over and to get back to work,” he whispered quickly. Taako seemed to notice his discomfort and moved, kneeling on the other side of the couch between Kravitz’s legs. Kravitz sat up slowly, feeling like he was coming out of a dream. He put both his feet on the ground.

There was a look of concern spreading across Taako’s face. “Will I see you again?” He looked away, glaring at the floor, then back at Kravitz, talking quickly, “I mean, are you gonna come out of nowhere if you decide to drag me to hell or can I get a greeting card?” 

Kravitz glanced over at the elf. Taako had a fragile look on his face that Kravitz couldn’t decipher. He pulled out his stone of far-speech. “Why don’t I give you my frequency? Give me a few days to think things over and we’ll meet again to discuss what conclusion I came to,” he answered. There was something here Kravitz didn’t dare break. "I suppose someone will have to answer for all of _that_."

A grin lit up the elf’s face and Kravitz thought he felt his heart skip a beat. When he put a hand over it, of course there was nothing. Taako grabbed the stone and tossed his own at Kravitz as he programmed his own frequency into the reaper’s. Kravitz glanced over, smiling softly to himself, as he turned his attention on Taako’s stone. 

When Kravitz had torn through reality and left the material plane, Magnus stumbled into the shared living quarters. Taako was looking down at his own stone of far-speech with a smile. Magnus’s face softened away from the exhaustion of the day and the shock from earlier. Taako startled and put the stone away when he noticed Magnus. “Knock first, homie! An elf is allowed to look at his own stone in the privacy of his own home, Mango. Don’t look at me like that,” he said defensively. The fighter laughed and rolled his eyes. 

Magnus didn’t know what had happened when Taako had gotten back, but he didn’t think the elf had any reason to be embarrassed about it. Then, Magnus realized Taako was probably embarrassed because this was the first. He shuffled his feet awkwardly. “Hey, Taako?”

Taako looked over with a slightly annoyed expression, like he was expecting to be teased. “Yeah, Mags?” Magnus smiled reassuringly and decided it was better to rush in.

“One of the best parts of love is deciding to start the adventure.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm still taking prompts/requests on Tumblr! Don't have to be within this series or anything. ;p Here's a [a link to my inbox](https://evitcani-writes.tumblr.com/ask).


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